After four seasons at the helm of the West Virginia State women's basketball program, David Smith was out of that role Friday.
WVSU interim athletic director Nate Burton said he met with Smith on Friday morning, when he decided to make the change.
"We want to thank Coach Smith for everything he did for our program," Burton said. "But at the end of every year, we assess our program and the health of our program. It was a tough decision, but I felt at this time it was time to make a coaching change."
Smith came to the Yellow Jackets prior to the 2012-13 season after 14 seasons at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, where he led the Knights to six of Smith's 14 career NCAA tournament appearances. He also coached at St. Joseph's College and Shippensburg University, where his team finished as NCAA Division II runner-up in 1996.
At West Virginia State, Smith earned his 600th career win in 2014 and finished the 2015-16 season with 628 wins. The 615 wins with which he entered the season ranked him 25th among active coaches and 43rd all time, according to NCAA records.
Smith said changes like this often happen with a change of athletic director - former AD Sean Loyd stepped down in January to focus on the WVSU baseball team, and Burton was named interim - but was proud of the foundation he laid during his tenure. That included bringing in Lexi Carson, the 2014 MEC player of the year.
"The program I inherited was in disarray when I came in," he said. "We had no freshmen or sophomores in the program. I think, in the future, there's a good base for someone, that I didn't have. This past semester, we had a team GPA of over 3.0. We have good students who are graduating."
The 69-year-old Smith did not rule out coaching again in the future.
Smith went 13-14 with WVSU in 2012-13 and 19-12 in 2013-14, when he reached the Mountain East Conference semifinals. After an 8-20 campaign in 2014-15, the Yellow Jackets finished 13-16 this season. WVSU fell in the MEC tournament's first round at home to the University of Virginia College at Wise, 84-74.
The Yellow Jackets led by as many as 11 but the Cavaliers went on a 20-3 run in the second half to come back. It was State's fourth loss in five games.
The search for a new coach began Friday, Burton said, and he was casting a wide net, looking at coaches in Division I, II and III. He had no time frame for hiring the new coach.
"I'm looking for someone who is energetic," Burton said. "I'm looking for someone who shares the same passion in competing for championships and cares about the student-athlete experience on and off the court."
West Virginia State loses just two seniors from this season's team - guard Deyahnna Styles and forward Alexus Hobbs. Among the returning players is leading scorer and MEC freshman of the year Laura Szorenyi, who averaged 16.3 points and 4.0 rebounds this season.
"I feel that it's a very attractive job," Burton said. "I think we have a great facility, we have student-athletes in place who can compete for a championship in the MEC."